PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Biathlon can now change forever.
Which causes Sebastian Samuelsson to react strongly.
– Devastating for our sport, says the Swedish biathlon star to SportExpressen.
There are expected to be major changes for the entire sport of biathlon. The European Commission recently introduced a ban on hunting with lead ammunition in the wetland to save the environment from toxic substances.
Öberg’s words
Soon the ban may be extended further and a total ban on lead in all ammunition may be introduced. Which in the long run may mean that no major biathlon competitions can be held within the EU’s borders as there are currently no reasonable alternatives to lead in the shooting moments.
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The skiers are well aware of the uncertain future that lies ahead for the sport and are now hoping for the best in order to continue competing.
– Yes, I am aware of that. I understand where it comes from, I hunt a little myself so I understand the problem with it. I hope they will be able to find a solution where we sports shooters end up on our own edge, says the Swedish biathlon star Elvira Öberg to SportExpressen and is still not too worried.
– I assume that in that case it would mean that in the longer term we would have to adapt our ammunition. But I don’t think it will mean that biathlon as a sport would disappear.
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Sebbe’s concern
But the teammate Sebastian Samuelsson is much more worried and is now airing his major criticism of biathlon being mixed into this discussion.
– It is clear that it is an issue that I am aware of and have followed. My view is that biathlon is not the problem or the culprit, our lead is shot at shooting ranges where we can collect all the lead. I hope that you can find some kind of exception or that you can see the issue in a different way so that it does not have to affect us, he says to the evening newspaper.
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The WC gold hero takes this very seriously and fears for the survival of the sport if the proposal goes through. So far, they have not discussed this issue very much in the Swedish national biathlon team.
– No, there haven’t been a lot of discussions among us actives. But it is clear that it is an important issue and it is important that it is managed in the right way, because right now there is no sensible alternative to lead for us. It would have been devastating for our sport, says “Sebbe” in the interview.
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